PTF are a Japanese four-piece instrumental jazz/fusion band who play in a very romantic and symphonic manner, their music frequently driven by Keisuke Takashima's warm and lively acoustic and electric violin playing replacing the need for guitar. Their debut `Percept From...' back in 2013 on the Musea label was a beautiful work full of spirited and energetic performances, and with the same line-up in place, this follow-up `What is Constant' progresses the band nicely, offering a touch more variety than the first disc as well as more ambitious arrangements and an added maturity that further time spent together as a band brings. Throw in some welcome Canterbury Scene touches, classical flourishes and endless symphonic grandeur, and you have one of the most dynamic instrumental albums of 2015!Looking at the opening and closing pieces first, the striking lead-track `Time Lapse' dashes through moments of Yusuke Seki's thrashing drums, ghostly piano, Hiroyuki Ito's murmuring bass ruminations, searing yet reflective electric violin and Takeya Kito's humming Hammond organ (that takes on some Canterbury-like flavours just after the four minute mark as well!). As for the brilliantly titled closer `The Boundless Scenery of the Spheres', solo violin is slowly joined by the rest of the band to offer a series of joyful and soaring themes full of heart and hope, with a slightly eerie break in the middle to ensure the piece never becomes overly sweet or completely safe.But the focal point of the majority of the disc is the 42 minute, four-part suite `The Thing (that is Constant)'. The longer running times of each section allows the pieces to develop more carefully, meaning less darting style changes and unhurried, more dramatically satisfying compositions. The opening passage `Glacier Blue' alone runs for 11 minutes, bookended with a glorious violin theme over rambunctious drums and sparkling piano that sneaks off into a spacey keyboard shimmer and brisk Canterbury-styled Hammond break in the middle. There's some darker gothic moods of second movement `The Versatile', all icy piano and sinister creeping violin that gives way to the light of uplifting and mellow symphonic themes with a steady Pink Floyd-like beat, and `Beyond the Ridge' is devilish and furious, scratchy violin racing alongside rumbling bass and manic drums at a break-neck pace. The 18 minute finale `Cloud 9' sprints through a mix of new ideas as well as reprising themes from earlier on in new interpretations, and there's not a single wasted second. Ravishing piano flights of fancy, majestic organ, dignified violin solos that reach symphonic heights as well as any guitar ever could, and there's even playful breaks that include a nimble country hoe-down!As always, that honed technical precision found in so many intelligent Japanese musicians that perform in jazz and progressive related styles is present, but thankfully PTF's music is still rich with genuine emotion, never turning away from that human touch for even a moment. This follow-up is definitely better balanced than the debut album, lacking quite as much of the overly constant swooning qualities, instead replaced with maturity and sophistication. The entire 59 minute work holds so many strong themes and arrangements that become instantly memorable as soon as you hear them, meaning re- spins quickly allows the listener to focus on how cleverly flowing and impeccably performed and composed the album is. `What is Constant' is truly one of the most dynamic progressive/instrumental/fusion albums of the year from a bunch of exceptional musicians who've now delivered two exquisite works in a row, who will no doubt lift the standard yet again on their next album (but let's give them time to relax after outdoing themselves on this one!)!Five / five stars - An essential purchase for violin freaks!

Michael H.

Great. This album is just great. This is jazz rock/fusion at his best. I'm not a big fan of the genre, but this album is really, really good. Two tracks of 7 minutes for the opening and the closing, and one suite of 42 minutes called The Thing, divided into four parts. It's hard to make more progressive. The musicians are awesome, and the compositions are really smart and great. All the fans of JR/F should like, or love, this album which is my favorite album of 2015 for me at this moment. I think that 2015, who already gave great albums in one month, will be a great year for prog.

Florian Decros

What is Constant is the second full album outing for Japanese Prog 4-piece instrumental outfit PTF who feature keys, drums, bass and violin.The album opens with an odd melange of styles in Time Lapse, the title perhaps suggesting that it is intended as a medley of ideas schizophrenically leaping from genre to genre, from lilting piano to Fripp-esque staccato riffs to elegiac themes through anthemic motifs to driving rock, frenetically changing every 32 bars or so. Using the first track to showcase the full musical catalogue seems a strange decision as none of the styles are explored satisfactorily and renders this a skip-over track for me.Things settle down into something much more tangible the four part suite The Thing (that is constant). Thankfully ideas are more controlled here and the album pulls itself together. Part one, Glacier Blue is a simple melody outlined with piano and violin but soon switching to full band with Hammond organ, piano, bass and drums, the fiddle floating elegantly with the theme using the chords and key changes to good effect. The rock beat converts into a waltz introducing a distinctly Yes flavoured repetitive riff, the bass line strongly echoing Chris Squire. We’re now well into the album and for the first time in the suite the Hammond organ takes a lead part before leaping back to the original romantic theme. Part Two, The Versatile begins as a brooding, menacing piece with rhythms built from the lower end of the frequency palette, but halfway through the mood changes with the fiddle lead tripping lightly over more easily tempered clavichord keys. Part Three, The Ridge kicks off with a solo violin reflecting an aggressive Paganini-esque (is that a thing?) riff with a hard rock rhythm for the duration of what is essentially a showcase solo for violinist Keisuke Takashima. Part Four, Cloud 9 is the longest piece revelling in luxurious Hammond chords.PTF have their roots firmly planted in ’70s prog and that is where this track sits before breaking out into a lively rock hoedown that would happily entertain an energetic Jed Clampett before merging uncomfortably into an altogether slower paced melodic elegy. In reality this ends the track but it restarts as before, reprising the suite and bringing the themes together before ending with a strangely anti-climactic fade.Grappelli style fiddle kicks off the final track, unassumingly titled The Boundless Scenery of the Spheres, which has a lighter mood than the previous suite being a more immediately accessible ballad led by both the violin and keys.Although being Japanese, PTF have established themselves in the European prog tradition with obvious influences from Tarkus era ELP and Hiroyuki Ito’s bass lines sometimes running almost parallel with Chris Squire. The recording features very little overdubbing and emulates a live performance with little trickery or evidence of 21st century instrumentation. Even the violin rarely uses distortion pedals. There are some production issues here and there, a solo violin lead dropping obviously back in the mix when joined by rest of the band for example, but overall the sound is well balanced revealing each player’s contribution.Overall, this is a dense symphonic album which might have benefited from having a little more aural space. As a showcase of clearly superb musicianship it is a resounding success, but at times to the detriment of the actual pieces in question. What Is Constant is an ambitious CD in today’s marketplace and can be welcomed as a rare foray into the ‘albums-that-should-be-listened-to’ genre – there is nothing suitable here for background music at your dinner party. Repeated visits would benefit the listener as there is much to take in and fans of early instrumental ELP, Soft Machine and Yes will find much to enjoy.